Archaelund
- January 8, 2024
- 4 Dimension Games
- 34h median play time
Get on Steam"Archaelund is a single-player Role Playing Game with an interesting plot and good graphics. The game offers exploration in a vast open world with first-person perspective and seamless transition to top-down perspective for turn-based combat. Characters have a deep and engaging progression system, starting from street ruffians, squires, hunters or beggars and advancing through a career-based system."
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a fun and engaging turn-based combat system that many players enjoy.
- Archaelund has a lot of potential with its deep character and party development, reminiscent of classic RPGs.
- The world is immersive and filled with secrets, providing a rewarding exploration experience.
- The game is still very raw and lacks content, leading to a feeling of emptiness in the world.
- Combat can be frustrating due to RNG issues, with many players experiencing frequent misses and difficult encounters.
- The early access version has bugs and optimization issues that detract from the overall experience.
- story87 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as captivating and immersive, with interesting quests and character interactions that encourage exploration and role-playing. However, some players find the narrative confusing and the quest system lacking clarity, leading to frustration in progression. Overall, while the foundation of the story is strong and leaves players wanting more, there are areas for improvement, particularly in quest design and character introductions.
“The world, the storyline, the characters, and different dialog options leading to different results - real role-playing!”
“I could probably talk for twenty minutes about my appreciation for the in-depth character and quest design, but the lore is what placed Exiled Kingdoms squarely atop the pedestal as one of the most interesting and exciting games I've ever played.”
“The story complements the gameplay well, with a unique world and lore that holds your interest.”
“The storyline does not make much sense, and missions are locked behind faction points as well as skills, and there are not many missions.”
“In an RPG like this, if you give me quests, I'm going to try to do the ones closest to town first, but the quests are very vague. If you don't complete the easy couple ones in the first town, you can spend a lot of time wondering how to get XP and where to progress, as the first 'major' quest requires you to have reputation with the first town.”
“They do not get introduced in the storyline, so I am really left alone in the game with unknown people.”
- gameplay61 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 74 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
Gameplay in Archaelund is engaging and well-crafted, though it can be challenging, especially for newcomers. Players appreciate the detailed mechanics and character generation, but note that some features are still not implemented, and the UI and animations require improvement. Overall, the game offers a satisfying experience with a mix of strategic elements, though it can feel overwhelming at times due to enemy encounters.
“The gameplay is that well crafted; you can tell that this game is a work of passion for the creator, not just a 9 to 5.”
“The gameplay is satisfying when you are in control, but you can easily be overwhelmed in the beginning stretch of the game as you usually have to face up to more than 6 enemies at once.”
“The story complements the gameplay well, with a unique world and lore that holds your interest.”
“Add in a terrible flanking mechanic that is crucial due to how bad the accuracy system is at telling your actual hit chance, and the multitude of classes that benefit from flanking makes it an experience of RNG over skill or strategy.”
“Lots of combat encounters, but there's no stealth mechanic; you always start combat in the same way.”
“Game mechanics are really slow.”
- graphics53 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally considered decent, with a nostalgic old-school RPG aesthetic reminiscent of titles like Morrowind and Skyrim, though they may not be the main focus of the gameplay. While some players appreciate the visual quality and lighting, others note issues such as graphical glitches, bugs, and high resource demands that can hinder performance on lower-end systems. Overall, the graphics are seen as a solid aspect of the game, especially for an early access title, but improvements are still needed.
“I see elements from so many awesome games in the genre, like Might & Magic 6, Morrowind, Gothic, Divinity: Original Sin, and so many more, all blended together perfectly into a unique fusion of a modern game with great graphics and an old-school open-world feel.”
“The graphics and lighting are quite nice to look at even though some people would think it's outdated.”
“Despite the fact it is still in early access, it seems to be the most promising game of the year - excellent graphics and music, interesting plot, variety of races and classes, and, of course, realms of Arkania vibes!”
“Going to run across some bugs, maybe crashes, graphical glitches, and bad pathing in the terrain.”
“You can clearly tell this is their first ever game; it's not that good graphically, and the modeling and action movement animations like casting and fighting look rudimentary.”
“My biggest issue is that I have to play on the lowest graphic settings possible with 720p just to get 30fps.”
- optimization20 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The game currently suffers from significant optimization issues, including bugs, long loading times, and high memory usage, which detract from the overall experience. Many users express hope that future updates will address these concerns, especially given its early access status, but they acknowledge that substantial work is needed for a polished and smoother gameplay experience.
“Optimization is not only encouraged but a necessity.”
“I think I will make an optimized party on my second campaign.”
“It's only early access now, so I'm sure when the game is finished it will be much more polished, optimized, smoother, etc.”
“At the moment it needs a lot of bug fixes, balance changes, and optimization.”
“It's janky, old school, in somewhat desperate need of loading time optimization (only on reloading, not area transitions so much), and is going to need about 2 years worth of work to be complete.”
“It's also poorly optimized and has issues eating up memory.”
- music16 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received widespread praise for being atmospheric and fitting well with the various locations, enhancing the overall experience without being intrusive. Reviewers highlight the quality of the soundtrack as exceptional, contributing to the game's promising early access status alongside its impressive graphics and engaging plot. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature that complements the game's immersive environment.
“The music is great, atmospheric without getting in the way.”
“The soundtrack and the graphics are, for all novelty of the game being helmed by a singular developer, amazing.”
“Music is decent and fits the atmosphere of each location.”
- stability14 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game exhibits stability issues primarily characterized by slow and buggy saves, occasional crashes, and minor visual glitches. While these problems can detract from the experience, the developer is responsive to feedback and has been quick to address critical issues through patches. Overall, while the game is somewhat buggy and unoptimized, the quick fixes and attention to user concerns are commendable.
“Slow and buggy saves seem to be the main problem, but only a small portion of the finished product seems to be available.”
“Going to run across some bugs, maybe crashes, graphical glitches, and bad pathing in the terrain.”
“It has a limited amount of content and is somewhat buggy and unoptimized.”
- atmosphere14 mentions
- 71 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its captivating visuals reminiscent of Skyrim and engaging battles akin to Baldur's Gate. The music enhances the experience, being atmospheric yet unobtrusive, while the intriguing questline keeps players curious about what lies ahead. Overall, it creates a uniquely inviting and immersive environment that resonates well with fans of old-school RPGs.
“The music is great, atmospheric without getting in the way.”
“The game has truly a great atmosphere and questline which really makes you curious what happens next.”
“This creates a very nice and weirdly inviting atmosphere, a nice contrast.”
“For the game's atmosphere, the look is reminiscent of games like Skyrim, while the battles are like those in Baldur's Gate.”
“Music is decent and fits the atmosphere of each location.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly during early levels, with many noting that the current content feels repetitive and lacks balance. While there is potential for enjoyment, the need for more polish and additional content is emphasized, as the grinding can detract from the overall experience.
“Even for early access, everything is tedious.”
“It's just too tedious leveling up.”
“For what's there, I could see 30-40ish hours of content that is mostly dungeon crawling and grinding.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is criticized for lacking depth, with users noting the absence of voice acting and character interactions that could foster emotional connections, leading to a generic and frustrating experience reminiscent of Dragon Age 2's combat.
- replayability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players highlight the impressive replayability of Archaelund, noting that even in early access, the game offers substantial value for repeated playthroughs. This quality positions it alongside other highly replayable titles, ensuring players find new experiences with each session.
“Even in early access, the game is amazing and has a lot of replay value.”
“So far, Archaelund has presented itself to be an immensely replayable game, just like EK.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features a wealth of humorous dialogue that enhances the experience, making the otherwise serious setting of Exiled Kingdoms enjoyable and engaging. Players appreciate the blend of humor with the storytelling, which adds depth to the exploration of its profound mysteries and dark secrets.
“The game is full of humorous dialogue, which made Exiled Kingdoms a blast, even though the setting is serious and there are implications of profound mysteries and dark secrets.”
“What can I say? I love the world and the storytelling, the humor, and discovering new stuff in the world.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The monetization model is praised for avoiding pay-to-win mechanics and microtransactions, focusing instead on solid game design.
“No pay to win or microtransactions, just good game design!”
- character development2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Character development is highly dynamic, offering a vast array of skill and capability combinations for each character, which adds depth but can complicate party selection.
“Character development is truly dynamic with innumerable possible combinations for skills and capabilities across every character, which makes it challenging to settle on a party.”
“Character development is truly dynamic with innumerable possible combinations for skills and capabilities across every character, which frankly makes it hell to settle on a party.”
